State-of-the-art technology should help farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to deal with crop diseases.
The project consortium is led by CABI and funded by the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP).
The aim of the project is to develop a Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE), using state-of-the-art technology to help inform farmers in sub-Saharan Africa of pest outbreaks that could devastate their crops and livelihoods. PRISE builds upon the UK Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Plantwise programme which works globally to help farmers lose less of what they grow to plant health problems.
Datasets obtained from a combination of the plant-pest lifecycle, earth observation and satellite positioning, are being used to spearhead the fight against pests that devastate an estimated 40% of the world’s crops. The project will help farmers fight back against potentially disastrous pests such as the Fall Armyworm.
CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) is an international not-for-profit organization that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.
Source:
CABI